Tsodilo Hills

Tsodilo Hills – a time travel to the past

The mountain of Gods as the hills are often revered, the Tsodilo rises loftily before the eyes, eliciting a feeling of magnetic anticipation and hope similar to what the early settlers would have felt, when sighting the hills from far.

From the mid and later Stone Age all the way down to the recent 1800s, the hills have been home for many batches of settlers, hunters and gatherers for whom the place was nothing short of an oasis with a Godly connection. The hills still remain as a large canvas that expresses a myriad of activities undertaken by its dwellers, providing valuable yet historic insights in the study of human beings.

The word Tsodilo means “damp earth” in !Kung and “sheer” (pure) derived from the Hambukushu word “Sorile”. Notably, its the !Kung and Hambukushu people who are the current residents of the area with some of them even working as guides to tourists visiting their sacred hills. The site boasts of over 4500 dramatic, mystical and entrancing rock art. Hence, trekking the hills without the local people’s consent may not be a good idea both from a spiritual understanding and from a knowledge perspective, as the place is best interpreted by the sons of the soil, the local guides who would have naturally inherited the experience from their forefathers.

We were lucky to have hired a patient yet well-informed local guide who took us through the journey of each and every rock art and geological formation meticulously. We learnt through him about innumerable facts about the place, the paintings and the formations. The paintings themselves were divided into two types namely red and white paintings. Though simply put in two colours, the details behind the resources used to create these everlasting expressions that stood its times is fascinating.

Most of the red paintings are older than the white ones and are finger drawn using ground haematite (a reddish-black mineral consisting of ferric oxide and important iron ore found in rocks), charcoal and calcrete (a hardened soil layer rich in calcium found in semi-arid conditions), possibly mixed with animal fat and blood. Whereas, the white paintings are more recent and predominantly exhibit cattle in their art. The more recent “bantu” -speaking people who practised arable farming and were rearing domesticated animals created the white paintings. These white art had materials ranging from egg white, crushed ostrich egg shells, honey and animal fat. Apart from the materials used, we could discover the connection between the art and their lifestyle. Spotting the whale and penguin rock art showcased the link between the Bushmen and their possible connection to the closest sea in Namibia. The display of the three young men popularly known as “dancing penises” discretely drawn under a rock shows description of probably an initiation ceremony. Some paintings are located in difficult to reach heights, however the guide explained that those paintings could have been done when the water levels were reaching the high points of the rock formation making it more accessible. The feeling when we visited the rhino cave was truly absorbing and we could literally transform ourselves and visualize stone-age right there as the guide explained point by point with minute evidences. To name a few is a rocky storage room created to protect meat from wild animals and evidences of using fire to ward of the cold were still visible in this enormous and lively looking cave.

Tsodilo is an archaeological paradise giving the visitors an all-embracing experience that surely touches a chord in our souls and immediately makes an impactful connection to those who respect the hills and its captivating beauty. The “Realm of Ancestors” as the place is often referred as, is largely made of quartzite rocks, possibly to have developed from the Kalahari sand dunes. The Tsodilo complex comprises of 4 major hills commonly known as “Male”, “Female” and “Child” plus an unnamed small hill. The male hill is also the highest amongst the four and happens to be the highest point in the predominantly flat Botswana rising at 1395 metres .

This pre-historic monument in a mountain offers four trekking trails for visitors namely the Rhino trail, the Cliff trail, the Lion trail and the Male Hill trail. We chose the more frequented Rhino trail, where one can witness most of Tsodilo’s rock paintings including the famous Van der Post’s Panel named after the explorer and author Laurens Van Der Post who wrote the “The Lost World of Kalahari” which was also a series in BBC.

These strikingly compelling rock formations filled with a treasure trove of ancient culture and art, was deservingly declared as a “World Heritage Monument” by UNESCO in 2001. This was Botswana’s first WHS status under the category “culture”, until recently the coveted honour was added to the not so far away “Okavango delta”, under the “nature” category. While there are many rock art findings in Africa, the cradle of mankind filled with pre-historic sites from Cairo to Cape, nothing comes closer to the less commercial, still and soulful connect felt in this dramatic set of hills located at the north western corners of Botswana. Tsodilo will always remain one of the most unique places we have ever visited.

(Blog by Arun Prasanna Gandhi, Published in Peolwane, Air Botswana’s inflight magazine in 2019)